


Everlong

by David_Ginsberg



Series: The Pink Flamingo Kid [2]
Category: Boy Meets World
Genre: Child Abuse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-29
Updated: 2017-05-29
Packaged: 2018-11-06 09:39:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 10
Words: 5,005
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11033559
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/David_Ginsberg/pseuds/David_Ginsberg
Summary: An alternate version of the letters storyline from season 5. Picks up around the last episode of season 4 and includes some substantial characterization changes (Shawn is 16 instead of 17 and has magically developed self-awareness, Chet is physically abusive instead of just an absent father, and we see more of Jack's relationship with his mother).





	1. A Door Named Chet

Shawn Hunter woke up on the carpet of the family trailer, a clean pair of men’s shoes in front of his face. His eyes traveled up the man’s legs and torso until he reached the concerned expression of Mr. Matthews.

  
“What the…” Shawn groggily remembered that he made a point never to swear in front of either of Cory’s parents, and his voice trailed off. He then remembered that Mr. Matthews was supposed to pick him up to visit Mr. Turner in the hospital.

  
“Are either of your parents here?”

  
“Um…Dad should be in my room, and Mom’s…” After the events of the previous night, he suspected his mother was clear of Montgomery County by now. “…I’m not sure where Mom is.”

Shawn stood up slowly and painfully. It was clear to Alan that he was nursing an assortment of fresh bruises to complement his black eye.

“What happened?”

Shawn instinctively knew what he meant and scrambled for a lie. “I, uh, ran into a door.”

“Was the door’s name Chet Hunter by any chance?”

“I, er…”

“Why don’t you grab some clothes and we’ll get you some breakfast.”

“Thanks.”

The car ride started out silently except for Mr. Matthews’ Otis Redding tape. Finally, Mr. Matthews turned to Shawn.

“Look, I don’t know if it’s a good idea for you to see Mr. Turner today.”

“Why not?”

“You’re working on a pretty good shiner there. I don’t want Mr. Turner to see it and get upset.”

Shawn nodded agreement and Mr. Matthews attempted to change the subject. “Hey, Cory told me about your report card. Straight A’s, huh. You must have really put in the effort.”

“Well, I learned French when our TV got stuck on channel four, so that one doesn’t count.”

“Still.”

An uncomfortable silence later, they pulled in to the Matthews’ driveway. Alan warned Morgan not to mention the black eye while Shawn was in the shower, and by the end of breakfast, he was back to his usual self.


	2. Hunter, S.P.

George Feeny couldn’t exactly say he was excited about Eric Matthews’ plans to attend Beach State University, but at least it would give him an opportunity to discuss the Hunter situation without interruption. He sat down in the Matthews’ living room, an extremely thick file labeled _Hunter, S.P._ in his hands.

“What do you think we should do?” Amy asked, “it’ll be months before Jon’s well enough to take care of him.”

“There is one other alternative, but it might sound a little hare-brained.”

Alan was briefly worried that George would offer to take the boy in himself, which wouldn’t do anybody’s mental health any good.

“What is it?” he asked hesitantly.

“Were you aware of Shawn having a half-brother?”

“Eddie?”

“No, this is a different one, thank God. Chet Hunter had a relationship with a woman named Julia Connor several months before he met Virna. It went about as well as you would expect, and when she realized she was pregnant, she ran away to New York to save her son.”

“This isn’t Casper, is it?”

“No, thank God. We’re pretty sure that was a one night stand. The boy’s name is Jack, he’ll be a freshman at Pennbrook in the fall.”

“You think he’d take Shawn in?” Alan asked.

“I think it’s worth getting in contact with him, if nothing else…”

“Don’t bother.”

George looked over to find Shawn standing in the doorway, with Cory behind him looking worried.

“Mr. Hunter, you’re back early.”

Shawn’s face brightened temporarily. “Yeah, Eric decided he was going to apply at Pennbrook after all. He’s down there right now trying to get an interview.”

Amy stood up. “That’s wonderful.”

“Hey, maybe he and your brother can be roommates!” Cory suggested.

Shawn gave him a dirty look. “Look, I appreciate that you guys are trying to help me, and I promised myself I’d stop lashing out at people who are trying to help me, but trying to get in touch with this guy would just end in disappointment, again.”

“You can’t be sure of that.” Amy remonstrated.

“Yes I can. Dad told me about Jack when I was 7, and I started writing him letters. I kept it up until I was 12, never got a single response.”

“That was four years ago, Shawn, people can change a lot in that amount of time.”

“It’s just not worth the risk.”


	3. Avocado

Topanga couldn’t help but overhear the boy in front of Chubbies’ phone conversation.

“Yeah, Mom. I went ahead and put a deposit on a three-bedroom by the river. No, no, no the Schulkyll. Right off campus.”

Gathering her courage, she tapped him on the shoulder. “Excuse me, I couldn’t help overhearing your conversation. Are you by any chance going to Pennbrook?”

“Penn, actually. You wouldn’t believe the luck I’m having with housing. 10,000 undergraduates and they only have 4,000 dorm rooms.”

“Yeah, my boyfriend’s brother has the same problem, and I really want Cory to have his own room.”

The boy laughed, “I got you.”

“Actually, he’s in Chubbies right now. Why don’t I introduce you?”

Cory was sitting at a booth, staring at his milkshake and wondering if he needed to cancel the queen-sized mattress he’d ordered. He looked up at Topanga and the boy.

“Who’s your friend?”

“He’s a freshman at Pennbrook, he just put a deposit on an apartment, and he’s looking for roommates…”

“So this place, does it have a view?”

“Oh yeah, by the river.”

“Fridge?”

“Big green one, I think they call it avocado.”

Cory clapped his hand on the boy’s shoulder “Have I got a roommate for you, baby!”

The boy removed Cory’s hand firmly and took a step backwards. “It’s not you, is it?”

“No, no, it’s not me.” Cory retrieved a photograph from his wallet. “Take a look at this.”

The boy studied the picture to assure himself that Eric wouldn’t be a romantic rival while Topanga took Cory aside. “You have a picture of Eric in your wallet?”

“Yeah, why?”

“Oh nothing, I just think it’s sweet. I’m in there, too, right?”

“You will be.”

The boy returned the picture. “Alright, I just have to make another phone call, and then we can meet your brother. It’s Cory, right”

“Right.”

“I’m Jack, Jack Connor.”

As Jack stepped outside, Cory turned to Topanga and clapped his hands giddily.

“Yes! Finally something good happens for Cory!”

“I didn’t think you’d be that excited.”

“Not for me, for Shawn! Topanga, that guy’s Shawn’s brother.”

Topanga’s face fell “The one who ran away to New York to be in skateboard videos or the one he used to write letters to.”

“Uhh…letters. Wait, how’d you know about that?”

“Stacy and Nebula were best friends in high school, remember. Cory, this guy can’t live with Eric.”

“Why not? It’ll be perfect. Hold on, I’ll get Shawn’s picture.” He pulled out his wallet again.

“Cory, this is a really bad…” Before Topanga could explain further Jack returned. 

Cory hugged him spontaneously. “Come on Jack, I’ve got a surprise for you.”


	4. Long-Lost Half Brother

Shawn entered the kitchen and grabbed a banana.

“They’re in the living room,” Mrs. Matthews told him.

“Thanks, did you know what Cory called for?”

“No, but he’s somehow managed to find Eric a roommate.”

Shawn went into the living room, where Eric and the potential roommate were comparing furniture preferences while Topanga vainly tried to get the roommate’s attention.

“Shawnie!” Cory ran over and hugged Shawn.

“What’s up, Cor?”

“You won’t believe who we ran into at Chubbie’s.”

Topanga groaned as Jack got up to shake Shawn’s hand. “Hi, I’m Jack, Jack Connor.”

Shawn turned to Cory, who attempted to muster the enthusiasm he’d felt a few minutes before. “It’s Jack, Shawnie.” Somehow, it came out as more of a whimper.

“Cory. Kitchen. Now.” Shawn pointed to the door and followed Cory into the kitchen. The door slammed shut behind him, and they could hear indistinct yelling.

“Does somebody want to explain what the hell’s going on?” Jack asked.

“Your guess is as good as mine,” Eric responded.

“I’ve been trying to explain,” Topanga interjected, “but you keep ignoring me.”

“Sorry, I thought you were, you know, into me.”

Topanga grimaced. “Anyway, Cory thinks you’re Shawn’s long-lost half brother.”

“Ok…”

“It’s probably a wacky case of mistaken identity, but Cory thought he could get Shawn to move in with you and Eric by surprising him.”

“We can still live together, right?” Eric asked.

“That probably depends on whether Jack’s actually Shawn’s brother,” Topanga warned, “and if so, how much Shawn freaks out about it.”

“I dunno," Eric interjected, "he’s been pretty good since he left that cult, except he’s falling down stairs all the time. It’s weird how he always does that right before he has one of his big emotional blowups.”

“Yeah, weird,” Topanga said. “Look, there’s got to be a million Jack Connors in the world, right. Stacy didn’t even know where Julia went after she left.”

“Julia?”

“Yeah, that’s Jack’s mom’s name.”

“That’s my Mom’s name. She moved to New York right before I was born and married my stepdad when I was 10. The only thing she told me about my biological father was that his name was Chet and he was an abusive drunk.”

“Oh, God.” Topanga put her head in her hands, “it’s really you.”

Jack stood up slowly. “I should go talk to him.”

He walked into the kitchen. Shawn and Mrs. Matthews appeared to have ganged up on Cory, who was sitting at the kitchen table with his head in his hands.

Jack cleared his throat “Look, Shawn, look, I think we need to talk, okay?”

“You turned your back on your father. And on me. There, we talked. Thanks for the banana, Mrs. Matthews.”

Shawn left the way he came. When she was sure he was out of earshot, Amy turned to Jack.

“I think you should call your mother.”


	5. Call Your Mother

Jack got back to the hotel he was staying at and dialed his mother.

“Julia Schulman.”

“Hi, Mom. It’s Jack.”

“Hey, sweetie. How’s the roommate hunt going?”

“Let’s just say I’m having a really weird day. Does the name Shawn Hunter mean anything to you?”

Her voice went cold. “Why?”

“We were introduced today. Apparently he’s my brother.”

Julia sighed. “Look, Jack, I don’t want you getting involved with this kid. I was going to tell you when he turned 18, but right now any relationship you have with him is going to be a relationship with your father.”

“Would that really be the worst thing in the world?”

“Trust me, you don’t want to know Chet Hunter. He’ll promise you the moon and then give you a black eye and a trailer park outside of Philly, and convince you it was all your fault.”

“Yeah, I don’t think he’s doing Shawn any favors, either.”

“There’s a lot of people who haven’t been done any favors in this world, and you can’t save them all.”

“I’ll start with Shawn. Look, I’ll call you tomorrow.”

Jack got in his car and found his way back to the Matthews’ house. An older man he assumed to be their next door neighbor waved to him from the yard, so Jack went over to introduce himself.

“Hi, I’m Jack.”

“Mr. Feeny, pleased to meet you.”

“Getting some gardening in?”

“Yes, I was just repotting these begonias.” Jack didn’t know anything about begonias, but he nodded sagely. “You see, begonias need a six inch pot, but the garden shop only had four inch when I bought these. Now, they can survive for a while, but at a certain point in their development, if they aren’t put in the right environment, they stop growing and all you’re left with is a withered mess.”

“Good to know. Is, uh, Mrs. Matthews around?”

“I believe she went to the store, but Mr. Matthews is in the garage if you’d like to speak to him.”

“I would, thank you.”

Jack walked around back to the garage, where Alan was tinkering with a tent.

“Excuse me, are you Mr. Matthews?”

Alan looked up. “You must be Jack. I’m really sorry about Cory. I’m going to make him apologize to Shawn as soon as he turns up.”

“You don’t know where he is?”

“You want to try to get back in touch with him?”

“Yeah.”

Alan stood up. “It’s no guarantee, but the likeliest place is the trailer park. I’ll show you.”

“Great, I’m parked out front.”

Alan followed Jack out to his car, a classic Mustang convertible. “Nice car.”

“Thanks, I got it for 500 bucks off my Dad’s mechanic. Took me two years to get it fixed up.” They discussed automotive mechanics until Alan pointed out the turn in to the trailer park.

“This is where he lives?” Jack asked.

“Yeah, third on the left.”

“Jesus.”

“You want me to come in with you?”

“No, I think this had better just be a family occasion.”

“Alright I’ll wait in the car. But the minute I suspect anybody’s getting hurt, I’m in there.”

“Uh…thanks.” Jack wondered what he was getting himself into. He could hear yelling by the time he got to the front door. He knocked, but no one answered and the yelling continued unabated. Jack assumed it was Chet, since it was too deep to be Shawn. After counting to 60, he opened the door.

Chet had Shawn pinned against the wall and was yelling about burning something. Shawn instantly recognized Jack.

“What the hell are you doing here?” he asked defiantly.

Chet turned around, dropping Shawn to the floor.

“This another one of your goddamn friends?”

Jack strode towards his father, anger rising in his throat.

“I’m Jack.”

“Jack?”

“Julia’s son. Your….something.”

“Jack, huh. So you finally decided to pay your old man a visit.” Without warning, Chet lunged towards Jack, knocking him to the ground. Before he could respond, Jack felt Chet’s boot connect with his stomach.

“What are you doing here, Jack? Did you finally get up enough guilt about your daddy to pay him a little pity call?”

“I came… for Shawn,” Jack gasped.”

Chet turned back towards Shawn. “You!” He chased Shawn into the kitchen, and a few seconds later Jack heard an ungodly scream. He pulled himself up and ran into the kitchen, followed closely by Mr. Matthews. Shawn was trying to remove his own shirt as Chet advanced on him with a cooking pot.

Alan pushed past Jack and knocked down Chet with a single punch, then turned to Shawn. “What the hell happened.”

Shawn’s face was white with pain. “Water…hot.”

“Oh, God.” Alan reached down and pulled off Shawn’s t-shirt to reveal a nasty burn on his chest. “You need to go to the hospital.”


	6. A Black Eye and a Trailer Park Outside of Philly

Jack stared off into the middle distance of the waiting room. One of Shawn’s teachers had showed up and was having a hushed conversation with Mr. Matthews. A doctor walked over towards them.

“Excuse me, can I ask you to come with me.”

Jack followed the men into an office. The doctor turned towards Mr. Matthews. “The kids going to be alright. They’re only second degree burns and they should heal in two to three weeks. Unfortunately, based on the splash pattern, I have to open a welfare investigation.”

“Uh-huh.” Mr. Matthews said.

“How does he spell his name?”

“Shawn, S-h-a-w-n, Hunter.”

The doctor typed something into a computer.

“Wow, 47 unreviewed complaints going back to August 3, 1983. Is one of you guys George Feeny by any chance?”

“I’m Alan Matthews, and this is Jonathan Turner.”

“And you are?” he pointed to Jack.

“Jack Connor, apparently I’m Shawn’s half-brother.”

“How old are you?”

“18.”

“I know this is probably a big ask, but do you think he could stay with you for a while until we can work out a more permanent arrangement? The protocol is to look for a family member whenever possible.”

“Yeah, I had actually come over to see if he wanted to move in with me.”

“And that set his father off?”

“Something like that.”

“You want someone to take a look at you while you’re here?”

“Huh?”

“You’re not looking too good yourself.”

Jack felt his face and realized his cheek was bleeding. “Christ, do I have a black eye?”

“Yes, why?”

“That’s what my Mom said would happen, he’d give me a black eye and a trailer park outside of Philly.”

“Um,” Mr. Turner interjected, “It might be better not to mention the trailer park in front of Shawn, he’s a little sensitive about it.”

“Kids used to make fun of him about it,” Mr. Matthews explained, “and this isn’t your fault.”

“I know it isn’t.” He turned to Mr. Turner. “Actually, what have you guys been doing while all this was going on?”

“He was living with the Matthews and when that didn’t work out he stayed with me for about a year,” Mr. Turner said, “I was in a motorcycle accident in April and Chet had just come back.”

“Back from where?”

“He’d run off to look for Virna, Shawn’s mother, and when he came back it seemed like he was on the wagon. Everything was fine for a couple of months, but things started going south again around the time I got out of the hospital. I still wasn’t in any shape to take him in, and we couldn’t convince him to stay with the Matthews.”

“By the way,” Alan said, “you’re going to need to keep a pretty close eye on him. He has a tendency to run off.”


	7. More About Shawn

Shawn was mildly gratified to see the bandage on his half-brother’s face.

“Welcome to the family, Jack.”

“Yeah, hell of a way to say hi.”

“What’s the matter? Mommy didn’t tell you what you _really_ were?” Shawn hadn’t indulged his self-destructive tendencies since leaving the cult, and the emotional release was doing an excellent job of distracting him from the pain.

“Shawn, this isn’t who any of us really are. Look, we’ve decided that you’re going to be staying with me for a little while.” Jack was attempting to assert an air of authority, which wasn’t making Shawn any more well-disposed towards him.

“Did dad get any say in this?”

“Your dad’s in jail.”

“Fuck.”

There was a long silence, which Shawn finally broke.

“Turner’s outside the door, isn’t he?”

“Yeah, he said you were a runner.”

“They lock the windows?”

“Yep.”

“Alright, you win.”

Shawn got up and took the shirt Jack offered. As promised, Turner met him at the door to the hospital room.

“You’re pretty pissed at us, aren’t you?”

“Don’t worry, I still feel bad about joining that cult. He’s in for it, though.” Shawn pointed to Jack.

“Right, we can handle that once we get you settled in.”

They checked Shawn out of the hospital and followed Jack to his car.

“Nice set of wheels,” Shawn smirked, “I bet he even got you to call him Dad.”

“For your information, I bought this car with my own money and fixed it myself.”

“Sure you did.”

They drove into Philadelphia in sullen silence. The entire Matthews family was helping Eric move in to the apartment. At some point it had been decided that Shawn was going to spend the day recuperating on the couch.

Mr. Matthews sat down across from Shawn.

“Is Eric downstairs?”

“Yeah, why?”

“I think he’s the only person left who still believes you keep falling downstairs.”

“What about Morgan?”

“She caught on after she saw that special episode of _In the Nick of Time.”_

“Great.”

“Anyway, I’m going to make you a deal. You stick with this thing for six weeks, I can get them to drop the charges against your dad. At the end of six weeks, we can reevaluate, but if you bug out before then, I call the DA and they throw the book at him.”

Shawn scowled and shook his hand. “You sure drive a hard bargain.”

Eric and Cory came back upstairs carrying a couple of cardboard boxes.

“Hey, we, uh, picked up some of your stuff from the trailer.” Erick explained.

“Yeah, what’s with all of these notebooks,” Cory asked, “I knew you were gonna start studying more, but this is ridiculous.”

Shawn stood up suddenly. “They’re nothing. Just stay out of my stuff, alright.”

“Now you’re just making me curious.” Cory pulled a book off the top of the box and began to read.

“Dear God/It’s me, Shawn/…”

Shawn walked toward him and reached out to grab the book. The movement tore open one of the blisters on his chest.

“I know you’re not there/I looked for a sign and got an involuntary spasm/A trick to make me believe/so another father could forsake me.”

Shawn slumped back onto the couch, defeated.

“I didn’t want to be empty and you offered to fill me/with straw made of Bronze-Age fairy tales and pop psychology/”

“Cory!” Alan snapped. “Stop reading that!”

“What?”

“Can’t you tell it’s personal?”

“Personal? It doesn’t even make sense. How do you make straw out of a school subject?”

Shawn groaned. “Look, Cory, can you just go.”

Cory’s face fell. “You want me to leave, Shawnie?”

“Yeah, and I want you to stay gone for a while, ok. And whatever you do, don’t try to help me.”

Cory turned away so that Shawn wouldn’t see him cry, and his parents followed him out the door.

“I’ll come back tomorrow with the rest of Eric’s stuff,” Alan said.

When the door had closed, Jack sat down next to Shawn on the couch.

“That was a pretty good poem.”

Shawn glowered at him. “It doesn’t scan. And since when the hell have you been interested in anything _I_ wrote.”

“Uhh…”

Before Jack could formulate a response to the oddly specific objection, Shawn stood up.

“Look, I’m going to bed, if you don’t mind.” Jack was starting to wonder if he’d taken on more than he could handle with the kid.

“The windows lock from the outside.” Eric called after him.

“Yeah, I kind of figured that.” Shawn called from inside the bedroom.

Eric made himself a bowl of cereal and sat down next to Jack.

“What is his _problem_?” Jack asked.

“He falls off of things all the time. And kids made fun of him for being poor when he was little. Also, your dad just totally abandoned him to track down his Mom a couple of years ago and he’s been bouncing around our place and Turner’s sense.” Eric lowered his voice to a whisper “I think there’s an abusive relationship going on there, but no one else has caught on, so I haven’t said anything.”

“I meant _your_ brother.”

“Oh, Cory. Yeah, he’s just super oblivious to other people’s issues. Also, he might be gay for Shawn.”

“So tell me more about Shawn.”


	8. Gone Full Pearl Jam

Cory looked up from his movie as his father came through the front door.

“Did you see Shawn?”

Alan shook his head. “He was in his room listening to music.”

“What band?”

“I don’t know you kids’ music.”

“Ok, on a scale of Counting Crows to Candlebox, how grungy was it?”

“I couldn’t understand the lyrics. Something about a kid named Jeremy.”

“Oh, God! He’s gone full Pearl Jam!”

“What movie is this?”

“ _Mother, May I Sleep With Danger?_ It has Tori Spelling.”

Alan noticed that his son was wearing a bathrobe, and had apparently just finished a pint of Haagen-Daasz.

“Cory, you know your mother and I will always love you, no matter who you are. I just have one question. When you and Topanga kiss, do you enjoy it?”

Cory clapped his hands, “That’s it! Shawn’s not mad at Topanga!” he ran into the kitchen and started dialing Topanga’s phone number.

“You didn’t answer my question.” Alan sat down on the couch and changed the channel to football.


	9. It Doesn't Scan

Jack answered the door. “Hi, Laurel, right?”

“Topanga. How’s Shawn?”

“Um…he’s moved on to Soundgarden.”

“Is Eric here?”

“He’s been filling me in about Shawn.” Topanga noticed that Jack looked like he’d been crying.

“Do you mind if I come in?”

“You’re sure you won’t set him off?”

“If he gets upset, I’ll leave.”

“Go ahead.”

Topanga went inside and knocked on the door from which _Black Hole Sun_ was emanating.

“Eric?” Shawn’s voice came from the other side.

“Topanga.”

“Come in.”

Shawn stuffed a notebook under his pillow and turned the tape player off as Topanga opened the door.

“Let me guess, Cory sent you.”

Topanga nodded. “He said something about reading something you wrote and being a giant idiot.”

“Huh, two for two.”

“It wasn’t a love letter was it?”

“No.”

“Whew. What was it?”

Shawn sighed. “I guess since everybody else knows it’s only fair that you do. It was a poem.”

“A poem?”

“Yeah. I know it’s dumb, but I write poems sometimes.”

“It’s not dumb. I bet it’s really good.”

“Eh, it doesn’t scan. And it probably pissed off Mr. Matthews.”

“How come?”

“Remember how I got religious for a while after Mr. Turner’s accident.”

“Yeah?”

“It didn’t take.”

“Yeah, I wasn’t giving that much of an over under.”

“Anyway, that’s what the poem’s about.”

“Well, Cory told me to tell you he’s profusely sorry.”

“How’s he taking it?”

“He’s watching Lifetime movies in a bathrobe.”

Shawn finally broke a smile. “God, Mr. Matthews must really hate me.”

“You know he really does care about you.”

“You think I should go over there?”

“I’d give yourself a couple of days for the burn to heal and Cory a couple more days to twist in the wind.”

“I’ll take your advice.”

“Thanks, um…you want my advice about Jack?”

“Can’t hurt.”

“Ask him about the letters before your six weeks are up. It’s not fair for you to hate him for rejecting you if you don’t give him a chance to explain why he did it.”

“How’d you know about the letters?”

“Stacy.”

“Forgot about that.”

“Who’s Stacy?” Jack appeared in the doorway, making Topanga jump.

“Does nobody wear shoes in their house anymore?” Shawn groused.

“No way, you track dirt in.”

“Where did you come in to that conversation?”

“You’re supposed to ask me about some letters.”

“Jesus.”

“Look, you might as well ask me now. You’ve piqued my curiosity.”

“Piqued your curiosity?” Jack was starting to get used to Shawn’s glare.

“Yeah, who’s sending who letters?”

Shawn stood up and started yelling. “I was sending you letters, asshole! For five fucking years because I wanted a brother and I was a stupid fucking child who couldn’t take a fucking hint when you didn’t answer!”

“I never got any letters,” Jack whispered.

“What, you think dad wrote down the fucking address wrong!”

“I swear to God, if I had known you wanted to see me, I would have gotten on a bus and found you. But I didn’t even know you existed until yesterday!”

“Yeah, right.”


	10. Be Careful with This Boy

Jack had promised he’d call the next morning. At precisely noon, Julia jumped in her Porsche and drove like a bat out of hell to the address he’d given her in Philadelphia. When she got there he was sitting on the couch talking to another boy and a girl.

“Jack! You were supposed to call.”

“Mom?”

He stood up and turned towards her, the bandages on his face confirming her worst fears of the past 19 years.

“What did he do to you?”

“It’s ok, Mom. I’m not hurt bad, I don’t blame myself for anything, and hopefully I’ll never see him again.”

“What about Shawn?”

“I have a temporary guardianship for six weeks and he’s going to decide what to do after that. Listen, Mom, did we ever get any letters?”

“The letters. Actually, I have them with me. I was planning on waiting until he turned 18, and you could see him without running into Chet, but I guess it’s a little late for that now.”

She pulled a sheaf of letters out of her purse and handed them to Jack. The top letter bore an excited introduction in a child’s scrawl, floating above an image of two stick figures labeled Shawn and Jack ice skating. Nobody noticed the real Shawn, woken up by the yelling, come out of his room and listen to the conversation from the hallway.

“You shouldn’t have kept these from me. He thought I was getting them and didn’t answer because I didn’t want anything to do with him!”

“That’s what he’s saying now that he sees he can guilt you. You have to be careful with this boy, Jack. Remember, he’s his father’s son.”

“So am I, and I turned out ok. Look, I’ve been talking to Eric about him, and he’s a good kid. He’s not like dad, and he’s been through a lot he doesn’t deserve. Now I’m going to fix it, ok?”

“I’m sorry.” Everyone turned around to see Shawn walk towards Jack from the hallway. “I should have actually explained why I had an issue instead of trying to just scare you off. I was scared of giving you a chance to lure me in with some sort of fake contrition and then screw me over again.”

“You’re still not over Chet, are you?” Julia asked.

“No.”

“You’re going to find that the hardest day of your life is the day you finally give up on Chet Hunter. It was the hardest day of mine, and I was terrified that if we ever met again, he’d talk me in to letting him visit Jack, so I made sure we never had reason to, but I should have found a better way to handle it, and I’m sorry for that.”

“Aww…do we get to hug now?” Eric asked, standing up and advancing on Shawn.

“Eric! I still have second degree burns on my chest.”

Eric stopped.

“Besides, this round of apologies isn’t technically over until we let Cory off the hook.”


End file.
